Gary Burrill chosen as new NDP leader in Nova Scotia at convention Saturday

Former premier Darrell Dexter stepped down as leader of the Nova Scotia NDP after being defeated in the 2013 election. The party elected Gary Burill as its new leader today. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Andrew Vaughan.

HALIFAX – The Nova Scotia NDP’s newly elected leader says the third place party must make a turn in order to gain back the support of voters following a crushing election defeat more than two years ago.

Gary Burrill won the leadership race in the Halifax area on Saturday, beating out former cabinet minister Dave Wilson and Lenore Zann, both sitting members of the legislature.

Burrill, an ordained United Church minister who does not have a seat in the legislature, said he will be focused on regaining the trust of voters and rebuilding the party after it went from being in power to third place status in the 2013 provincial election.

“There’s been a real deep sense that the party needs to make a turn in the direction of what I have referred to as social economic and environmental justice,” said the 60-year-old Burrill, who was born in New Brunswick and has worked as an author and educator.

“I think there has been a consensus in our party that the next chapter of our story needs to be one where there is a strong, underlined, all-caps emphasis on income equality and the abolition of poverty.”

Former premier Darrell Dexter stepped down as leader of the party after the 2013 election, and Maureen MacDonald has served as acting leader since then.

Burrill, who assumes his duties as leader immediately, said his lack of a seat in the legislature will be discussed in the coming weeks.

The party said voter turnout was 74.2 per cent. It said 60 per cent of the party’s 3,000 eligible voters had voted electronically in advance of Saturday – the Nova Scotia NDP’s first leadership convention in 15 years.

No candidate had a clear majority, so the third candidate – Wilson – was dropped off and voters’ second-place choices were distributed to Zann and Burrill.

Liberal Premier Stephen McNeil congratulated Burrill on Saturday in a news release, noting that taking on the role shows a “deep commitment to the people of the province.”

The NDP currently have six of 51 seats in the Nova Scotia legislature.

Burrill has been married for more than three decades to his wife, Debra Perrott, with whom he has four grown children.

He was elected in the 2009 provincial election to the riding of Colchester-Musquodoboit Valley, a long-time Progressive Conservative stronghold.

Burrill was appointed chairman of the legislature’s veteran’s affairs committee during his time in government.